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NL DIVISION SERIES: CARDINALS v DODGERSOctober 4, 2014Zack GreinkeLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Two St. Louis – 2 THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Zack. First one right here in front. Q. How did you feel about your command and your slider and also did all the activity on the bases, kind of with the emotions involved in the playoffs, have a bigger toll than it normally would in a normal game? ZACK GREINKE: Probably it has less of a toll just because you have more adrenaline going. But with the extra running and stuff. Command was really good. A.J. said the slider was better than normal and I guess didn't use my curve too much and changeup a little less than have I been using. But fastball slider command was better than normal. Q. What were you personally feeling when Matt hit that home run and just how important was getting the win here today? ZACK GREINKE: I mean, yeah, that was great. Once League got out of that jam, I felt pretty confident in us winning the game. I thought we definitely had the better odds, just with how we have been swinging the bat and I just felt good about it. And it seemed like a mistake pitch to Matt and he's been hot, as everyone knows, and that was exciting. Q. Was there a conversation with Don about when you were going to come out? ZACK GREINKE: Yeah, I mean, we kind of decided the inning before. It was a good inning, my last one was, but it was kind of talked about before and probably could have went either way, I guess. Q. Was it your call? ZACK GREINKE: Both our calls, I guess. Q. After A.J.'s double when you were coming up and you faked the bunt and then you hit, it looked like you said something to the third base coach. Did you want to swing away there, was that your call? ZACK GREINKE: It was like a placement that I never, I didn't really, I don't think I remember ever seeing that before. So I was kind of confused with what to do, if I should bunt into it, because it seemed like it would be really tough to bunt with the setup. So I was hoping they would let me know what's happening, because I was kind of confused with it. And Carpenter started charging, so I thought it was a wheel play type thing. So I thought to swing, it was a lucky hit, the pitch was way outside and just kind of went in the right spot, kind of. Q. Where do you think was the best pitch you threw tonight, to what batter? ZACK GREINKE: One pitch? I don't know. Let's see here. There was a couple good ones. I mean, it was a pitcher batting on one, but the strike 3 to Lynn was as good as I could have thrown him, I felt like, and it worked. There was a couple to Holliday that felt really good, too. Actually, probably the one that was the most exciting was the Peralta at‑bat, striking him out. That was big time. A.J. told me he wanted to do it and, so it worked out, executed good, good game plan and was a big situation, so that one maybe. Q. Did you feel any added responsibility coming out here for this game after the way things went last night? ZACK GREINKE: I tried not to, because any time personally I try to do more than I feel I'm capable of, it backfires. So, my game plan's always to try to lower my expectations and not try to do too much. So that was ‑‑ I guess it was important, but just that was my goal. Q. You talked about where your main job's pitching and that's what you're paid to do, but do you take any extra pleasure or just contributing on offense hitting, running the bases, all that kind of stuff? ZACK GREINKE: Obviously, it's fun, it makes a difference, because last year I'm not positive if we won or lost this particular game, but Joe Kelly got a base hit off me and pretty sure he scored and just to it's a big difference sometimes. Today, at least one extra run scored because of it, because of the slash at‑bat and it's really important fielding your position and hitting, not being an absolute out, and I don't know if there's an absolute or there's an exact number to how much it helps, but it definitely helps. Q. With a three game series now ahead of you and St. Louis has the home field, how big was this win tonight for the team? ZACK GREINKE: Yeah, it was big. Ryu's been pretty amazing for us and I don't know who is coming back if Kershaw is pitching Game 4. But we still have some good pitchers, no matter what we do. And the way our team's been swinging, I mean, you don't want to be down by two, but it wouldn't be impossible for how we have been playing. Q. Two part question, looked like the pitch to Peralta had some tail or sink to it what was that and, two, the way the offense has been swinging, how confident does that make you going forward for this series? ZACK GREINKE: Yeah, it was just a two‑seam fastball. It might have moved a little more than normal. I can't tell you for sure about that. Yeah, our team's been playing amazing the past, the last month, at least felt like we got to be one of the best offenses in the game right now. Our defense has been playing great, and our pitching has been the weak link, which wasn't the case the whole year, but that's how good our, the rest of our team's been playing. That it's pretty tough to keep up. Q. If the umpire gets the call correct in a double play with you, initially, and calls you safe, do you have time to get to second, or would they throw you up and do you believe you up over there? ZACK GREINKE: Yeah, that was ‑‑ that's a good question. That was my plan is, I felt if ‑‑ I could have stopped and avoided being tagged by him, but then I don't think I would have been able to make it to second. So, I don't know if it was the right play and I talked to Dee about it some afterwards, but the last thing I wanted was them to throw it to first and then still have me at second. So I was trying to get, I thought he was going to throw to first earlier and I was going to try to get to second. So I think I would have made it, but I couldn't tell you for sure. That was my thought process while I was running. THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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